Those eager to catch a glimpse of the asteroid slated to zip past Earth on Christmas Eve are being given a sneak peek at the massive space rock.
Those eager to catch a glimpse of the asteroid slated to zip past Earth on Christmas Eve are being given a sneak peek at the massive space rock.
NASA shared the highest resolution images gathered to date of the speeding object known as 2003 SD220.
The data was collected between December 17th and 22nd by the Deep Space Network’s antenna, located in Goldstone, California.
During that time, the asteroid was getting closer to our planet, moving from a location 7.3 million miles away to one near its estimated final proximity of 6.8 million miles.
NASA assures all that is a perfectly safe distance and nothing terrible is expected to happen to Santa, the reindeer, or anyone else.
Those who are disappointed 2003 SD220 is not getting closer, will no doubt be delighted to hear the asteroid is expected to pass again in 3 years.
That time around, the gap between it and Earth will likely only measure 1.8 million miles.
NASA says that flyby will not present any dangers either.
0 comments:
Post a Comment